Pleural mesothelioma, an asbestos-related pulmonary cancer, is a rare and aggressive cancer. The treatments, surgical pain, side effects and emotional stress of the disease can all lead to an unbearable fatigue in patients, even after the treatments have ended. Finding an effective way to relieve the fatigue is difficult for the patients and their physicians. Now, researchers report the best treatment for fatigue may be none at all.
Researchers from the University of Alabama in Birmingham and Harvard Medical School in Boston set out to find a non-pharmaceutical solution to relief and improved quality of life for cancer survivors suffering from fatigue. The team turned to an open-label placebo study to look closer at the placebo effect. Seventy-four cancer patients who were experiencing moderate to severe levels of cancer-related fatigue, according to a Feb. 15 article in Association of VA Hematology/Oncology (AVAHO) journal, were enlisted in the study. All of the patients were aware that one option was to take an inert, non medicine-containing pill.
The patients were assigned to either the placebo group where they took two pills twice a day, or to receiving the standard fatigue treatment. After 21-days, the researchers reported “statistically significant” improvement differences between the groups. 76% of the placebo group reported a higher change score in improvement in fatigue severity and in fatigue-disrupted quality of life than did those patients undergoing medical treatment.
The results were clinically meaningful, the researchers say. Moreover, there were no reported adverse events or adverse effects. In addition, those patients who received standard care and requested a placebo in a second test, reported the same positive effects.
Quality of life issues are the primary concern for many mesothelioma patients. Reports of pain and fatigue often hold them back from returning to a normal routine after completing treatments. Finding a way to help them cope with the debilitating fatigue can ultimately help improve their attitude and overall health.
In early findings of the study reported in May, Harvard researchers reported that a placebo can be just as effective as traditional treatments when used in the right circumstances. They work best on symptoms that are modulated by the brain, like the perception of pain or fatigue, and when given following a “ritual of treatment.”
“The placebo effect is more than positive thinking — believing a treatment or procedure will work. It’s about creating a stronger connection between the brain and body and how they work together,” says Professor Ted Kaptchuk of Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, lead researcher.
Read the full study in the Jan. 29 issue of Scientific Reports.
The post Placebo May Be the Best Treatment for Mesothelioma-Related Fatigue appeared first on MesotheliomaHelp.org Cancer Organization.
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